Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise and Minister of State for Energy, today visited MWH Treatment’s Bio Power Plant in Tyseley, Birmingham to mark one year since the landmark project’s groundbreaking.

The plant is the first of its kind in the UK and it will be supplied with approximately 67,000 tonnes of wood waste secured under a long term sustainable contract with a local supplier. It is forecast to save around 107,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum and produce enough electricity to supply the equivalent of more than 17,000 homes a year.

The project has created over 100 construction and 19 full time jobs in the process. It is scheduled to be fully operational in early 2016. MWH Treatment had secured the contract from Birmingham Bio-Power Ltd to design, build, operate and maintain a 10.3MW biomass gasification facility worth £47.8 million a year ago.

Blair Lavoie, president of MWH Constructors, MWH Global said:

"The Tyseley Biomass plant is a testament to the spirit of genuine collaboration where investors, planners, government and our design and build team have delivered on a vision that highlights the UK as a market leader in energy from waste. With the right investment, we see huge potential in developing these projects into the international marketplace where first of a kind technology will continue to open up the sector."

“This investment by the Green Investment Bank will be used to fund biopower projects that will put the UK at the forefront of this innovative green technology, turning local waste wood to electricity. Today I have been able to see first-hand the work that is being done to get projects off the ground. This state of the art plant in Birmingham will be the first of its kind in the UK. It uses a new type of gasification system and will not only power 17,000 homes and recycle waste more efficiently but will also boost the local economy and create 100 local jobs.”